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Rest In Peace: My Dear Xbox 360

by machofantastico

REST IN PEACE: MY DEAR XBOX 360! It's all rather sad isn't it? No? Well it was for me!! Well I knew it would happen one day, despite various repairs and fixes I knew this day would come. When I say 'this day' I actually mean last Monday, when after four years of faithful service I decided to officially allow my dear Xbox 360 gaming console to go to console heaven to join the other zillion broke...

REST IN PEACE: MY DEAR XBOX 360!

It's all rather sad isn't it? No? Well it was for me!!Well I knew it would happen one day, despite various repairs and fixes I knew this day would come. When I say 'this day' I actually mean last Monday, when after four years of faithful service I decided to officially allow my dear Xbox 360 gaming console to go to console heaven to join the other zillion broken Xbox 360's. I'll admit, it kind of sucks.  Especially when you consider that I've used the exact same Xbox 360 since the console first launched in Europe on December 2nd, 2005.  
 
Having a launch Xbox 360 still in working order felt rather special, and it's to Microsoft's credit that despite it's many flaws the Xbox 360 is a rather sturdy system. Yes even mine suffered a full year of endless Red Rings of Death errors, and yes the console was probably on it's last legs two years back, but it deserves some credit for being as tough as it was. I heat gunned the motherboard a billion times over and components were thrown left, right and centre. But it still worked all those years and that's something indeed special.  
 
Now you may read this and wonder 'why is using the same console for almost five years special?' Well if you knew much about the Xbox 360, you'd know that it's failure rate is a little on the shocking side. Microsoft have tried to fix some of these issues, but a poor overall design in the first place and some cheap components as seen many a gamer throw their broken console into the nearest skip or trash can. All of my friends are on either their second, fourth or even sixth system. When you take that into account, you realize that having the same system function and provide a superb gaming platform for almost five years is rather impressive. 
 
Hopefully I should be getting this baby, that's if the damn store can get my order right for once.It's not all bad though, it does provide me with the excuse to buy a new system. In fact it's all rather odd reading many of the odd wonders Microsoft have put in place when buying a new console. For one I recently found out I need to make a license swap from one system to the other, this will hopefully allow me access to my Rock Band 2 downloadable content without requiring an Xbox Live connection. Also a little odd is Microsoft's method of data transfer, there seems to be some confusion concerning Transfer Kits and which versions work with the new 250GB Harddrives.  
 
Yes that's correct, considering this is the first new 360 system I've bought since picking up my original on launch day. I decided to go all out and invest in the latest edition, or the Modern Warfare 2 Limited Edition Xbox 360 Super Elite *take breath* console. While I could take or leave the Modern Warfare 2 paint work all over the console, it's of course the bigger harddrive that truly makes the difference. More importantly is the fact it is actually good value for money as a overall package. On sale for around £250, you get the 250GB HDD, two Elite 360 controllers, Headset, MW2 game and the console itself. As you can tell, it's all about the harddrive.  
 
Let's be honest here, when Microsoft do eventually announce the 250GB HDD for separate sale they will charge gamers a arm, two legs and their pet goat. To this day my poor wallet feels the pain of being shockingly overcharged for the 120GB HDD and right now that MW2 Super Elite deal makes very good sense, especially if your looking for a new system. I just hope it doesn't go and get itself sold out, then I will be angry. For now I am Xbox 360less, it's drove me a little mad. Not because I miss the system, but because I've missed out on Assassins Creed 2, a game I've been waiting for since.... well completing Assassins Creed. But as they say, patience is a virtue and I'm sure enjoying AS2 on my new system using a HDMI cable will make the whole affair that much sweeter.  
 
That's it for now, though I've also decided to at some point bring shame to my family by picking up a copy of Lego: Rock Band (please give me a chance to run first before throwing those tomatoes at me). I'll be frank, I'm a sucker for that damn Rock Band 2 catalogue and there are a few songs I'm actually quite interested in (no, it's not that Pink song before you say anything). But first I shall wait and hope I get my new Xbox 360 at some point, the store I've ordered it from decided to send me a despatch email without actually informing me they had no MW2 Super Elites in current stock. It's a mad world! But I'm part of it and that's something I can't change.  
 
How many Xbox 360's have you gone through? 
 
Thanks for Reading! 
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